History of St. Paul’s Hospital

St. Paul’s began when Mother Emilie Gamelin founded the Sisters of Providence in Montreal in 1843. The Sisters of Providence established schools, hospitals, orphanages, homes for the aged and asylums in Canada and the United States, and later in many other countries. In 1894 the congregation established St. Paul’s, a 25-bed compassionate care hospital founded in the name of the then-Bishop Paul Durieu, OMI, of New Westminster. St. Paul’s was, from the beginning, keenly interested in using the latest medical technology. The hospital became one of the first to have its very own X-ray machine, circa 1906. By the 1970s, plans were in place to remake the 500-bed hospital to efficiently fulfill its new role as a provincial referral centre for specialty services. Now a renowned teaching hospital with a strong research focus, St. Paul’s is recognized provincially, nationally and internationally for its work in the areas of heart disease, kidney disease, nutritional disorders, HIV/AIDS and the care of the disadvantaged. Looking to the future, the hospital is committed to strengthening the goals of the Sister of Providence to provide compassionate, effective care to those in need. Learn more about the history of the Sisters and St. Paul ‘s Hospital